Qingluan governed Wanshan County, which was the best county under the command of the Spiritual Ape Lord and also the closest to Wanshan Prefecture City.
It only took a day's journey from Wanshan County to Wanshan Prefecture City.
"Master, can we stop by Wanshan County for a while?" The Three-Eyed Crow looked at Yang Feilong with a hopeful expression. Although he was enslaved and controlled by Yang Feilong, and his heart only belonged to Yang Feilong, Qingluan was, after all, his beloved. In his heart now, she still ranked second.
Yang Feilong saw the expectation in the Three-Eyed Crow's eyes. "Yes."
Yang Feilong nodded. Naturally, it wasn't because he was afraid of disappointing the Three-Eyed Crow and causing any rebellious thoughts, but he also wanted to see how beautiful Qingluan, one of the Four Great Beauties of the Vella Empire, truly was.
Not long after, the group entered the county town of Wanshan County.
Qingluan, the commander, naturally learned of the arrival of the Three-Eyed Crow and his group through her subordinates.
Although Qingluan disliked the Three-Eyed Crow, he was still her loyal admirer. She didn't mind occasionally throwing him a bone, so she arranged excellent accommodation for the Three-Eyed Crow and his party!
It was right next door to her own mansion.
After settling his subordinates, the Three-Eyed Crow led Yang Feilong, along with the Curly-Haired Baboon and the Golden-Maned Lion, to Qingluan's mansion.
"Greetings, Commander Qingluan!" The Three-Eyed Crow said, gazing at Qingluan with infatuation.
Seeing this, Yang Feilong secretly scoffed. How embarrassing!
Even after being enslaved by me, his sycophantic nature hasn't disappeared. However, he wasn't surprised, as Qingluan was indeed worthy of being one of the Four Great Beauties of the Vella Empire!
She wore a agate-red embroidered sleeve shirt on her upper body, and a stone-white brocade printed floor-length skirt on her lower body. She draped a deep sapphire blue horsehair embroidered shawl, her hair tied in a beautiful bun, adorned with golden hairpins in her delicate cloud temples. Her slender, fair hands wore carved green chalcedony rings. Her slender waist was tied with a light green embroidered gold floral patterned palace sash, from which hung a purse embroidered with a white crane spreading its wings. On her feet, she wore sheepskin boots embroidered with magnolia flowers. Her skin was fair, her eyes alluring, looking like Chang'e from the moonlight, cold and full of charm!
Even with Yang Feilong's discerning eyes, he couldn't find any fault. If he had to say something, it would be that this was her transformed form, not her true body? Was her true body a bird?
But then again, the transformed form could also be considered her body, as once the transformed form was set, it couldn't be changed at all.
Moreover, the transformed body was formed automatically based on certain intentions, her essential nature, and temperament, not something she could change at will!
Most importantly, Yang Feilong felt that this Commander Qingluan was not in the Nascent Soul realm, but in the Primordial Spirit realm!
It was difficult for others to discern the Primordial Spirit realm from the Nascent Soul realm, especially if one deliberately concealed their aura. However, Yang Feilong's soul was strong, having reached the eighth stage of Transcendence. Yet, he felt a faint sense of dread towards this Commander Qingluan. The ninth stage of Transcendence would put some pressure on him, but not make him feel dread.
Whether she was in the Primordial Spirit realm or not, he would let the Three-Eyed Crow probe.
Now that he had enslaved the Three-Eyed Crow, he would have the Three-Eyed Crow probe, and he would inform him how to proceed through the soul mark in his mind!
"En." Commander Qingluan nodded slightly. "Commander Three-Eyed, there's no need to be so formal."
"Commander Qingluan, I feel your aura is stronger than before. Have you broken through to the Primordial Spirit realm?" the Three-Eyed Crow asked probing.
"I thought I had hidden it well. I didn't expect you to see through it?" A flicker of surprise flashed in Qingluan's eyes, then she nodded. "That's right, I broke through seven years ago."
"Broke through to the Primordial Spirit realm seven years ago?" the Three-Eyed Crow exclaimed, "So early?"
"We haven't seen each other for a few years, have we?" Qingluan said.
To be precise, she and the Three-Eyed Crow hadn't seen each other for nearly ten years.
As they spoke, she glanced at Yang Feilong, her brow furrowed. "Is this the human you captured?"
Although they were both in human form, because Yang Feilong had no trace of demonic or fiendish energy, she immediately judged that Yang Feilong was human!
"Yes!" the Three-Eyed Crow replied. Of course, if Yang Feilong hadn't given him prior instructions, he would have been extremely apprehensive. Even with Yang Feilong's instructions, he still felt uneasy.
This was disrespect to his master!
"I see this person's aura is not weak. How about giving him to me?" Qingluan asked.
"If Commander Qingluan wants him, of course, there's no problem!" the Three-Eyed Crow said with a smile. Of course, this was not something he could decide, but his master had instructed him to agree.
"Since you've given me a human, I can't treat you unfairly. After all, if you had given this human to Lord Spiritual Ape, he would have rewarded you. Otherwise, it might be a punishment. Tell me, what do you want?" Qingluan said.
"Um, I just want to ask why Lord Spiritual Ape wants us to collect humans. Lord Spiritual Ape didn't explain. I wonder if Commander Qingluan knows?" the Three-Eyed Crow asked curiously.
"This matter?" Qingluan glanced at the Three-Eyed Crow, seeming to ponder whether to tell him.
"Of course, if Commander Qingluan doesn't want to say, I won't force you," the Three-Eyed Crow said with a smile. "I'll just endure a punishment from Lord Spiritual Ape. It's nothing!"
Hearing the Three-Eyed Crow say this, after all, he was her admirer, and now that her cultivation had broken through to the Primordial Spirit realm, she would have to compete for the position of Lord. She was confident she could defeat some weaker Lords, and then she could become a Lord. Becoming a Lord required her to recruit subordinates who were loyal to her!
This Three-Eyed Crow was a good candidate!
"Have you heard of the Tomb of the Fire King?" Qingluan said, looking at the Three-Eyed Crow.
"The Tomb of the Fire King? Are you talking about the descendant of a human and the Fire Phoenix Emperor? Huo Yan Wang!" The Three-Eyed Crow's knowledge was not shallow. He instantly thought of something, and his eyes widened.
"It's him!" Qingluan nodded. "Huo Yan Wang was the descendant of the Fire Phoenix Emperor who favored a human woman. He possessed the characteristics of both humans and fire phoenixes, but was full of hatred for us demons. He couldn't break through to the Integration realm in his lifetime. Before his lifespan ended, he built a tomb for himself. That tomb contains all his treasures, but only humans can open his treasure and obtain his hoard! Previously, no one knew where Huo Yan Wang's tomb was, but a year ago, some people found it! Of course, I also found out about this by chance!"
Yang Feilong, who was listening to Qingluan's words, was also confused!
So this was the reason why the Spiritual Ape Lord wanted his subordinates to search for humans!
It was because only humans could open the tomb of Huo Yan Wang. Huo Yan Wang was the descendant of a human and a demon emperor, and he was full of hatred for demons. It might be because of his mother, since his mother was human.
In fact, this was normal. Demons might not value their offspring much, especially those born of humans, or even despise them, leading Huo Yan Wang to intensely hate demons.